Nine African Startups Join the Norrsken Impact Accelerator
The Norrsken Impact Accelerator, a well-known early-stage accelerator, has picked nine African startups from eight countries to participate in its second round.
The accelerator is one of the Norrsken Foundation’s programs. Niklas Adalberth, co-founder of Swedish fintech unicorn Klarna, founded the organization in 2016 to assist entrepreneurs around the world in addressing some of the world’s most pressing issues.
Since announcing the opening of Norrsken House, an entrepreneurship hub in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2019, the Norrsken Foundation has been courting Africa. The center, which is the first outside of Sweden, also includes an African-focused seed fund, which has allowed it to engage in Rwandan businesses such as Viebeg Technology and PesaChoice.
It opened the hub in December, welcoming 250 entrepreneurs and hoping to attract another 750. In the same year, it chose 11 African startups to participate in the inaugural Norrsken Impact Accelerator.
The 9 African startups chosen for the accelerator are Clafiya, a Nigerian digital primary health startup, and SunFi, a clean tech startup; Appload, a Mozambican mobility platform; Emata, a Ugandan lending platform; Umoja Labs, a Tanzanian payment solution; Fixa, a Rwandan artisan recruitment service; Motito, a Ghanaian BNPL platform; HealthDart, a South African health network; and Power Financial Wellness, All 20 businesses deal with mental health, poverty, sustainable agriculture, financial inclusion, or renewable energy.
The startups will participate in an 8-week growth sprint at Norrsken House in Stockholm, where they will be mentored by over 110 entrepreneurs, investors, and unicorn founders, as well as earn a $125,000 pre-seed or seed investment from the Norrsken Foundation.
“Our accelerator brings together over a hundred amazing people who use their knowledge, experience, and network to help early-stage, up-and-coming impact digital firms,” stated Funda Sezgi, managing director and co-founder of Norrsken Impact Accelerator. “We only want to engage with companies that are tackling real, pressing, and significant issues.” We feel that every company in our 2022 cohort is accomplishing just that, and we’re thrilled to be a part of their further success!”
Participating businesses have raised a total of $24 million in pre-seed and seed capital from investors such as Brilliant Minds co-founder Ash Pournori, Kry co-founder Fredrik Jung-Abbou, Pär Norberg of Nordic Capital, Capital T, Globivest, and Norrsken Foundation since the accelerator’s establishment.
We covered the Norrsken Foundation’s Norrsken22 Africa Tech Growth Fund earlier this year, a $200 million fund sponsored and managed by 30 unicorn founders to help African entrepreneurs establish the next generation of tech giants.
